Plan It® Installment Program FAQs

Plan It is a feature available on certain American Express® credit cards that allows you to split eligible purchases or a portion of your current billing statement into fixed monthly installments. Installment plans are available in 3,6, and 12-month durations.

Credit Card Cardmembers in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, and Prince Edward Island are not eligible to set up installment plans.

To be eligible for a transaction-based or statement-based installment plan, the following criteria must be met:

• A purchase or billing statement of $100 or more
• A purchase made on an eligible American Express Card
• A purchase made on an account in good standing 

Note: Items such as interest, fees, balance transfers, or cash advances aren’t eligible for Plan It Installment Plans.

You may not see any qualifying purchases because your purchases have not posted, your purchases do not qualify, or because you aren't able to create new plans on your account at this time.

Your ability to create plans will be based on a variety of factors such as your creditworthiness and your Credit Limit, as applicable. You won't be able to create plans if your Account is cancelled. You won't be able to create plans if one or more of your American Express Accounts is enrolled into a payment program, or has a payment that is returned unpaid, or account is delinquent.

No, there is no credit check performed for creating an installment plan.

Only Basic Credit Card Cardmembers can create installment plans. However, eligible balances from Supplementary Card transactions can be included in installment plan(s). 

This is not a promotional or special rate offer, unless specifically stated otherwise. The fee charged is comparable to the interest you would have paid if you carried this balance on your account, without the installment program. 

Yes. Foreign currency purchases are billed to your account in Canadian dollars and are subject to the same eligibility for plan creation as the rest of your balance. Plans are created based on eligible balances owing on your account.

Transaction-Based Plans:

If you are eligible, you can set up a plan through:

• Your Online Services account
• The American Express® App

For your Online Services account, click on “Create a Plan” from your home page or click here to start your Plan journey.

On the Mobile App, look for the “Plan It” icon on eligible transactions to view plan options. 

Statement-Based Plans:

If you are eligible and looking to enroll a portion of your account balance into an installment plan you can set up a plan through:

• The Statement Page within your Online Services account or click here to start your Plan journey
• The Borrowing Centre

On the Mobile app, look for the Statements button and click on “Plan It” to view plan options. 

Please note, these journeys will only be accessible if you are within an eligible planning date. For example, you may not be able to create a plan a day or two before your billing cycle.

Plan It is an embedded feature for eligible Cardmembers. There is no program enrollment required

For transaction-based plans, you may create an installment plan(s) for an eligible purchase any time except the cycle close date or the payment due date.

For statement-based plans, you may create an installment plan(s) for an eligible balance from the day it first posts to your account, up to but not including the payment due date to which that balance relates. 

If you have Pre-Authorized Debit, you can create plans at any time starting from the opening date of your billing statement, and up to but not including the day before your payment due date.

The minimum amount for any new installment plan is $100. To see how much you can move into the installment program at any given time, log on to your Online Services account. 

Please note funds advances and special rates balances will not be eligible, unless a specific offer is presented to you. We may also limit your ability to move balances to the installment program based on your account’s available credit or for any other reason.

You will be given a choice when creating a new installment plan. Durations may include 3, 6 or 12 months.

Yes. You can create new installment plans provided you have balances that are eligible for the installment program.

You can plan up to 85% of your current statement balance, or up to 85% of your credit limit. 

There is also a maximum of 90 active or recently completed plans allowed. 

Installment plan balances that are not yet paid will reduce your available credit.  As you pay off your monthly installments, the amount paid off is added back to your available credit limit. To see your available credit, view your latest monthly billing statement or visit your online services account.

When you create an installment plan, you will be charged a fee instead of interest. The monthly fee will be displayed when making your selections to create a new plan. For details on how your monthly fee is calculated, please see your Cardmember Agreement – “Monthly installment amount and monthly installment fee” section.

Installment plans may take up to 48 hours to be reflected on your account. 

After the installment plan is created, your monthly installment plan payments will be part of your minimum payment due on your next credit card statement. The minimum amount due must be paid in order to keep your account in good standing.

For information on how to understand Plan It on your monthly statement, see this guide. 

When creating an installment plan for new balances that appear on your most recent statement we include the monthly fee as part of the monthly installment amount you are required to pay each month. The fee will continue to be charged each month until your installment plan's principal balance is paid off or removed from the installment program. 

However, when creating an installment plan for balances that have not yet appeared on a billing statement, the first month’s installment amount due will be applied in full towards the principal. In the second month, you will be required to pay the fee for both months 1 and 2 and the amount of the principal will be reduced to keep the installment payments the same. 

Interest is not charged on balances moved into an installment plan, from the first day the plan is created, and for as long as the balance remains in an installment plan. Otherwise, interest will apply in accordance with your Cardmember Agreement, subject to any grace period that may apply. For full details, please see your Cardmember Agreement - “Effect of Installment plans on grace period”. 

Your direct debit arrangement is not affected.  If your direct debit is set up to pay the account’s minimum monthly payment, this will include any monthly installment amount. If your direct debit is set up to pay the full closing balance each month, it will be adjusted to reflect your latest outstanding balance, which will not include any installment balances that are not yet due. 

Extra payments will not be applied to any installment balances that are not yet due. If you pay more than the balance on your statement, in a given month, it may result in a credit balance on your account.

Once set up, terms applicable to the installment plan cannot be changed. If you no longer wish to continue with the selected terms, you can cancel your installment plan(s) through your online services account.

Yes, you can cancel your installment plan(s) at any time through your online services account or by calling the number on the back of your Card. When you cancel an installment plan, the remaining amount of your principal balance will be added back to your regular Card balance where interest will be charged, subject to any applicable grace period. Please see your Cardmember Agreement - “Cancellation and Removal of Installment Plans” section. 

If we don’t receive at least the minimum payment amount by the date of your next billing statement, your installment plans will be automatically cancelled. The remaining principal balance will then be added back to your regular Card balance where interest will be charged, subject to any applicable grace period. Please see your Cardmember Agreement - “Cancellation and Removal of Installment Plans” section. 

Since credits from returned purchases will be applied to your regular Card balance, there is no impact to the installment plans you have already created. Plans are created based on balances owing on your account. Credits or disputed balances will not result in all or even a portion of the program being paid off or cancelled, nor will it stop any installment fees from being billed. If you have no other charges against which the amount could be applied, your account could end up with a credit balance. If you have a credit balance at the same time deferred amounts are still on your account and you would like to apply the credit balance against such deferred amounts, you will have cancel your installment plan(s). A payment of at least the minimum amount due will be required in order to keep your account current and in good standing.